Can you share your view on the need to build and foster the public service culture?

Public service culture is a system of values, behaviors, symbols, and standards formed in the process of building and developing the public service, capable of transmitting and influencing the psychology and behavior of people performing public service. Public service culture plays a very important role in the organization and operation of state administrative agencies and the process of performing official duties of cadres and civil servants; is an important factor to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the operations of State administrative agencies. Building and constantly fostering public service culture and ethics for the contingent of cadres, civil servants and public employees play an important and very necessary role in the roadmap toward a modern, professional and integrity public administration serving people and businesses.

How do you evaluate the Project on Public Service Culture?

After more than three years of implementation of the project, the public service culture in public agencies has been increasingly enhanced; the sense of public service discipline and ethics has been increasingly improved. In terms of working spirit and attitude, when performing tasks and official duties, civil servants and public employees are always well aware of their assigned responsibilities and tasks. They always comply with the organization's assignments and are enthusiastic, dedicated, and exemplary when completing duties and tasks. They have a sense of discipline; strictly abide by the internal rules and regulations of agencies and organizations; and actively coordinate in performing tasks and public duties. They are supposed not to cause harassment, or show indifferent, insensitive, irresponsible attitudes.

In dealing with and communicating with people, civil servants and public employees always respect, listen to, and wholeheartedly guide the process of handling work and carefully explain people's questions. Civil servants and public employees always have a spirit of cooperation and assistance in performing tasks and official duties; avoid being sectarian and causing internal disunity of agencies and organizations.

Civil servants and public employees need to constantly study, cultivate and practice ethics and lifestyle.

The duty of dissemination, propaganda and organization to thoroughly grasp Decision 1847/QD-TTg dated December 27, 2018 of the Prime Minister has also been seriously deployed to all civil servants, public employees, thereby making an important contribution to helping civil servants, public employees and employees become more aware of the basic contents of the Public Service Culture Project, making the implementation of the project a voluntary and regular work of civil servants and public employees; step by step building up the image of civil servants and public employees with the standard spirit, working attitude, communication and behavior, ethics and lifestyle, well fulfilling the assigned tasks.

Which key solutions should be focused on to improve public service culture?

In order for the process of building and fostering a public service culture to effectively meet the requirements and tasks in the new period, in my opinion, it is necessary to focus on strengthening the propaganda and dissemination of the contents of the public service culture to raise awareness, create strong changes for cadres, civil servants and public employees in spirit, working attitude, standards of communication, behavior, ethics and lifestyle, in order to continue building the contingent of disciplined, responsible, dedicated and professional cadres, civil servants and public employees. It is important to research and propose to improve the regulations on public service culture in the Law on Cadres and Civil servants, the Law on Public Employees and guiding documents; studying and amending regulations, internal rules and working regulations of agencies and organizations in order to create a legal basis for methodically preventing violations of public service culture; advising, proposing initiatives, efforts on administrative reform, building working style and manners, training public service ethics, contributing to building a service administration, building a government with discipline, integrity, action, creativity, breakthrough, efficiency, building a State of the people, by the people and for the people.

It is necessary to pay attention to the implementation of Directive 05-CT/TW dated May 15, 2016 of the Politburo on "Promoting studying and following Ho Chi Minh's thought, morality and style"; Resolution 04-NQ/TW dated October 30, 2016, of the Fourth Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on "Strengthening the construction and rectification of the Party; preventing and repelling the degradation of political ideology, ethics, lifestyle, internal "self-evolution" and "self-transformation" expressions; Regulation 08-QDi/TW dated October 25th, 2018 of the Party Central Committee on "The responsibility to set a good example of cadres and party members, first of all members of the Politburo, members of the Secretariat, members of the Central Committee"; Regulation 205-QD/TW, dated September 23, 2019, of the 12th Politburo on  “The control of power in personnel work and prevent illegal lobbying for position and power" in state administrative agencies. It is crucial to actively implement the project of public service culture. It is essential to promote the emulation movements of cadres, civil servants and public employees emulating the implementation of office culture; replicating typical models and good practices in public service performance and building public service culture; creating a favorable environment and conditions for cadres, civil servants and public employees to exchange and share solutions and effective ways in implementing tasks.

It is significant to promote the synchronous implementation of regulations on public service culture in all sectors and fields, and state administrative agencies from Central to local levels. It is important to widely apply information technology in the internal operations of agencies and organizations, aiming to improve labor productivity, reduce meetings, administrative papers and reporting regimes, creating a foundation for e-Government development. It is necessary to provide information and online public services at a high level, on a large scale for people and businesses; listing all administrative procedures at the head office in order to make the activities of agencies and organizations more transparent, serving people and businesses better. It is essential to strengthen inspection and examination of the implementation of public service culture according to annual programs and plans and handle violations in accordance with the law.  It is critical to timely praise and reward cadres, civil servants and public employees with achievements and exemplary performance in the public service culture.

In addition, it is also necessary to focus on strengthening training and fostering to improve professional qualifications and professional skills for cadres, civil servants and public employees. It is crucial to actively implement Resolution 18-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017, of the 6th Conference of the 12th Party Central Committee on " A number of issues on continued renovation and organization of the apparatus towards a streamlined, effective and efficient political system"  in order to create a profound change in awareness and action of the whole political system, gradually building up a contingent of cadres sufficient in quantity and quality, effectively meeting the requirements and tasks in the new period.